Citizenship
Conflicted • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Conflicted / Citizenship
Do you feel the same tension that I feel as a Christ follower living in America.
At the later part of 2020 I was going stir crazy with all the different mandates and isolation that was being imposed upon us living in Ca.
Imagine waking up every day in a land that feels foreign, where the culture, values, and practices are vastly different from what you hold dear.
This was the reality for the Jewish exiles in Babylon. They were surrounded by a society that did not honor their God, faced daily pressures to conform, and had to navigate life in a place that was not their home.
Similarly, many American Christians today might feel like exiles in their own country.
The societal values and norms often seem to drift further from biblical principles, creating a sense of disconnection and challenge. Just as the Jewish exiles had to find ways to live faithfully in Babylon, we too must learn to live out our faith in a culture that may not always honor God.
(Bulletin Only)
4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” 8 Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord. 10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:
The exiles had lost everything but their lives and what few possessions they could carry with them to Babylon.
They’d lost their freedom and were now captives.
They’d been taken from their homes and had lost their means of making a living.
They were separated from relatives and friends, some of whom may have perished in the long march from Jerusalem to Babylon. The trade route the exiles would have traveled was approx. 900 miles.
No matter how they looked at it, the situation seemed hopeless.
How long will they be there? 70yrs.
Jeremiah’s prophecy:
11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
seventy years
8 Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord. 10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.
Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have.
The false prophet Hananiah / You don’t like 70 years / how about 2 years?
2 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’ ”
That is not what the Lord said. What did He say?
15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. 16 Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.’ ” 17 In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died.
Be careful when you say thus saith the Lord. The Lord told me to tell you.
We are stuck here for 70 years as conflicted citizens. NPR: report life expectancy 76.1.
What should we do? Rebel?
5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.
6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.
Then rebel? Stand up and fight?
7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
It would be easy for the Jews to wage constant warfare against their idolatrous Gentile captors, but Jeremiah instructed them to strive to get along with the Babylonians. The exiles were to be peacemakers, not troublemakers, and they were to pray sincerely for their enemies.
1 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior,
God wanted his people to establish a kingdom presence in exile. While they were waiting for a better tomorrow, they were to be industrious today. Earth is not merely a place to wait for a ride to heaven. It’s where we live out God’s kingdom agenda in history.
10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
